She was probably looking out the peephole at me, and suddenly I realized I should be holding flowers. Or chocolate. Or a chocolate croissant. Something. Instead, I smiled like a goofy idiot and waited. The door unlocked, and after what seemed like an eternity, it inched open.
“Hello, Amanda,” I said. She didn’t respond but left the door open as she turned around and went back to the bed. Sitting on it, she curled up her legs under her and picked up the remote for the TV, turning it off.
I followed her inside and sat down on a chair by the bed. Sitting on the bed felt like I would be pressuring her, but I didn’t want to seem intimidating by standing either. The chair was the safest place. Amanda turned her eyes to me and stared for a moment.
“What?” she asked, coldly.
“Look, I know I came off awful at the restaurant,” I said. She rolled her eyes. “I was in shock. I’m sorry. Really, I am sorry. I just…” I paused as I tried to find the right words. “I just never thought I would have kids at this age.” I looked down at my feet and swallowed. Here it was. The big admission. “Or someone I loved.”
The words hung in the air for a moment, and then I heard the sound of her taking a slow breath out. When I looked up at her again, her eyes were on me, and they were brimming with tears.
“You love me?” she asked, her voice on the edge of breaking. It clenched my heart to see her so emotional, and I stood, going to her and sitting on the bed next to her, as close to her as I could be without touching.
“Yes. I love you. I love you, Amanda. I know it hadn’t seemed that way, but it’s only because I have trouble conquering the truth of my own feelings and I’m just so sorry…” I trailed off.
“I love you, too,” she said, leaning forward to capture my words.
I caught her with a kiss, and our arms wrapped around one another. Her lips parted, and I brushed my tongue against hers. Tears that had run down her cheeks and collected at the corner of her mouth slid onto my tongue, adding a twinge of saltiness to the taste of her. I wanted to kiss them away. Forever.
Our lips parted for a moment and she held my face in her hands, searching my eyes. “I love you, Tom. I’ve been sure about that for a while I think. Emotions are scary.”
“That is true. But I know for sure now that I love you, Amanda,” I said, and we both smiled in spite of ourselves. It felt like a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and I crushed my mouth into hers again, both of us tumbling to the bed.
She curled into me, her thin T-shirt and loose pajama pants barely concealing her body as it molded into mine. I didn’t want to push her, but the need for her skin was too strong to resist. I slid my hand inside her shirt from behind her, letting my fingers run up her spine, and my lips moved to her neck. She gasped as my tongue flickered out and licked the skin at the crook of her neck and shoulder, and then she placed her hands on my chest and gently pushed me back. Afraid I had moved too fast, I leaned back and searched her face.
“Just a second,” she said and grabbed the hem of her shirt. She lifted it quickly, tossing it away, and then leaned across me to shut the curtain over the fan that sat in the window. “There,” she said as the world outside was hidden away, but she still hovered over me. I took one of her heavy, perfect breasts into my mouth, and she cooed as my tongue glanced over her nipple. “Much better,” she said.
I rolled her to her back and hovered over her, my hips grinding into hers as she undid the buttons on my shirt. I helped her pull it off me and then grabbed at the waistband of her pants. They slid off easily, revealing her delicious mound. As soon as I was over her again, her hands were digging at my belt, and I shimmied the pants off as she unbuttoned and unzipped them.
I grabbed the blanket and pulled it over us, blocking the light, and all that was left